


Don't Be Afraid, Just Walk to the Light

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: YOI Spooky Week [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Exploring the Afterlife, M/M, Reaper!Otabek, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide By Reaper, Supernatural Deals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:17:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: One of the worst things about being a Reaper was that you tended to see people at their worst.  They begged, they pled, but when their time was up, there was no deal to be made.  There was nothing they could do.Major Character Death: Yuri and Nikolai die.  Otabek's already dead.





	Don't Be Afraid, Just Walk to the Light

**Author's Note:**

> Written for YOI Spooky Week Day 7: Grim Reaper/Death

When Otabek was sent to take the soul of Nikolai Plisetsky, he assumed it would be a boring collect an old man whose time has come assignment. Nikolai might argue, but in the end, it would be routine. Otabek did a lot of these. He was good with the elderly.

He arrived at the house, drawn by the waning power of the old man’s soul. When he crossed the threshold, though, everything changed. The air thickened, and Otabek found himself bound with aetheric chains. This was… unexpected. He’d heard stories of Reapers who had been trapped and bound, kept from their duty to preserve the life of a loved one, but that was usually for someone dying young.

Instead, this time, it was a fiery young man standing in front of him, so full of life that being in his presence should hurt. It didn’t. “Reaper. Let’s talk.”

“It’s your grandfather’s time.” It was a guess. Nikolai felt too old to be this man’s father, so he went for the logical choice. “There’s nothing you or I can do to change that.”

“That’s bull and you know it,” the boy snapped. “I have you bound. We can strike a deal. If you ever want to get out of those chains, you _have_ to deal with me, and there’s only one thing I want.”

“Do you know what happens if I do that? If I break the laws of nature to allow your grandfather to live?” Otabek pled.

“Yeah. You have to take the life from somewhere else. Take it from me. Whatever I have left, split it evenly between us.”

“You could have eighty years left. Do you really think your grandfather should live another forty years?” Otabek felt for the guy, but really? Taking an old man whose time was up and asking him to live another forty years? “This won’t cure what ails him. He’ll be sick, in pain, I don’t know what exactly is wrong with him, but is that really what you want? Forty years of suffering?”

The guy went pale, green eyes brimming with tears. “You don’t understand. He’s all I have in this world. Take him now, and I don’t see myself making it forty days, let alone forty years. There has to be a way. You have to let him go. I don’t care what it takes. If I have to summon a demon to make a deal for Grandpa not to suffer, I will figure out how and do it.”

Otabek tried to reach out, but the chains held his arms in place. “What’s your name?”

“Yuri Nikolayevich Plisetsky. Does it matter?”

“Yuri. I won’t let you force your grandfather to suffer. If you truly don’t care what happens to you, then here’s what I can do – I can take you, too. You and your grandfather can go together, which is really what you’re asking, isn’t it?”

“What’s the price?”

“For the rest of whatever your natural lifespan is, you work as a Reaper. I’ll be there at first to help guide you and teach you what you need to do, and whenever you need me, you can call. When you’re not out on a collection, you can be with your grandfather in the afterlife. When you would have died, you’ll be sent to your afterlife. How does that sound?”

“Like a deal. What do I have to do?”

“Ah… that’s the tricky part. Like demons, the deal is sealed with a kiss.” It didn’t have to be, really, but the kiss was traditional, easier, and less traumatic for Yuri than for Otabek to shove his hand into Yuri’s chest and rip the life force out with his heart.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “That’s supposed to be a problem? Wait, before I do it, I need to be alive to do this.” He went over to the altar he’d set up and disrupted the chalk markings, and the aetheric chains dropped away from Otabek. “There we go. You ready?”

“I’m ready.” He let Yuri come to him. The kiss was nice, better than Otabek had expected, but he had a job to do. He drained Yuri’s life force. He’d been right – there was a lot of it here. Even allowing for Yuri’s vibrancy, he would have lived a long life on his own. Splitting it with Nikolai would have been cruel.

When the last life force left him, Yuri crumpled to the floor. He stood right back up and looked at himself critically. “I don’t really feel any different.”

“Give it a few hours. The hardest part is realizing that you’re not going to eat or sleep or need to pee. It’ll take your brain some time to adjust.”

Yuri tilted his head, and then shrugged. “So what’s your deal? How’d you become a Reaper? Trade your life for someone?”

“No. I was reaped before my time. Going by my life force, I should have survived the motorcycle crash, but someone made a choice that interfered with that.” Yuri’s eyes got huge, and Otabek hurried to correct himself. “I’m not saying I was murdered, necessarily. I don’t know what exactly happened, I was busy dying. The most likely thing is that a doctor made a mistake in treating me.”

“So who’s the rung above you on the pyramid scheme?”

“Lee Seung Gil. He’s quiet, barely says much, but he comes any time I need him. I just don’t need him very often anymore. I’ve been doing this a while.”

Yuri shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling at the broken altar. “So you’re gonna show me the ropes and then disappear on me?”

“Not if you want me to stick around. I can go wherever you are, and you can come wherever I go, so we can spend as much time together as you want until one of us has served out our time. Even after, whichever of us is still reaping can visit the other.”

“What happens when we’ve both served out our time?”

“Then you’re in your afterlife and I’ll be in mine. If there’s a reason for our afterlives to connect, they will – you’ll almost certainly be connected to your grandfather’s.” Otabek’s warning system pinged. “Come on. I’ll show you how to reap someone.”

 

Nikolai was not happy to see Yuri when Otabek pulled his spirit from his body. “Yurotchka? What are you doing here? Why are you not alive?”

“I’m gonna be a reaper for the rest of my life. Better than being out there all alone, Grandpa. I know you were worried about me, this way you don’t have to.”

“You had so much left to do in life, Yuri. Even with skating closed to you, you could have found a new dream to pursue. Found someone to be by your side for the rest of your life.”

Yuri jerked his thumb at Otabek. “He says he can be. I’m still me, I just haven’t lost you. Besides, reaping? Pretty important job. I can go places, see cool things, save the world. No more worries about keeping myself fed or keeping a roof over my head. I’m better off here, Grandpa. Don’t feel bad for me.”

Nikolai looked hard at Yuri. “As long as you’re happy, that’s what’s important. What happens now?”

Otabek raised a hand, opening a portal. “Go to the light, Nikolai. Yuri will be right behind you, as will I, if I’m welcome.”

“Yes, I suppose you might as well come along, Yuri will need teaching, won’t he?” Nikolai walked into the light.

Otabek watched carefully, and when the light changed from white to gold, he nodded to Yuri. “Let’s go.”


End file.
